Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake

WOW. Now, many of you know I am a self-professed Queen of Cheesecake. No, I’m not tooting my own horn about how fabulous my own cheesecakes always turn out, but cheesecake is by far my very favorite dessert. I’ll eat it before anything else laid in front of me. And so when I saw this cheesecake featured on Smitten Kitchen, there was no turning back. I had to make it. Immediately. And with no good reason whatsoever other than I wanted it. No company, no dinner party, no celebration. Just because it looked THAT good.

Although the cheesecake is comprised of four components, it wasn’t complicated at all to put together, so please don’t be intimidated! The recipe for one bowl brownies is ridiculously quick and can be thrown together in less than 15 minutes. You can make the brownies a day ahead and pop them into the fridge – they are easier to slice through when cold anyway!

MY OTHER RECIPES

We need to talk about the crust. Deb is a genius. DOUBLE THE CRUST! Doh! ::smacks self on forehead:: For someone who is ALL about the crust (be it cheesecakes, pies, pizza, anything that has crust), it never occurred to me to just go ahead and double the crust recipe. Simply brilliant, for sure. The original recipe calls for either chocolate wafer cookies or Teddy Grahams to use for the crust, but I used Oreos because, well, I just adore them. Oreo cheesecake is by far my favorite variety, so if I’m not going to have Oreos IN my cheesecake, I’ll definitely settle for them being my crust!

The cheesecake itself has the perfect texture – wonderfully creamy and melts in your mouth. Pair that with the double crust, a bite of fudgy brownie in every other forkful and a layer of rich, bittersweet chocolate ganache and really – cheesecake (or life, for that matter) does not get much better than that.

Directions:

1. To make the Brownies: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 13×9-inch baking pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Grease foil.

2. Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and salt; mix well. Spread into prepared pan.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minute or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. (Do not overbake.) Cool in pan on wire rack. Remove brownies from pan, using foil handles.

4. Cool brownies, then cut them into 3/4- to 1-inch squares for use in the cheesecake (I used a pizza cutter, per Deb's recommendation). You will have more than the two cups of cubes, loosely measured, than you will need, and I'm sorry, you're just going to have to decide for yourself what to do with the extra. Add cubes to cake batter as directed below.

5. To make the Crumb Crust: Stir together the Crumb Crust ingredients and press into bottom and 1 inch up side of a buttered 10" springform pan. Fill right away or chill for up to 2 hours.

6. To make the Cheesecake: Preheat oven to 350°F.

7. Beat together cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla, beating on low speed until each ingredient is incorporated and scraping down bowl between additions.

8. Fold brownie cubes in very gently. Put springform pan with crust in a shallow baking pan. Pour filling into crust and place on a rimmed baking sheet (to catch drips) in middle of oven 45 minutes, or until cake is set 3 inches from edge but center is still slightly wobbly when pan is gently shaken.

9. When completely cool, top with following glaze.

10. To make the Ganache Glaze: Place finely chopped chocolate in a medium size mixing bowl. Scald the butter and cream together in a saucepan (or in the microwave on HIGH for 1 minute). Pour the cream mixture over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Whisk in vanilla and then whisk in powdered sugar until smooth. Spread over cheesecake while ganache is still warm. Chill until ready to serve.

I made this about a month ago, and I agree that it’s the best cheesecake ever. I have never been a big cheesecake fan, but this cheesecake is a totally different story. It’s my husband’s favorite as well, so it was a huge hit for us!

Wow, this looks fantastic. I already have a great cheesecake with cookie crust recipe that I found this past summer. I can’t even imagine how amazing it’ll taste with brownies and chocolate glaze. I’ll definitely be making this!

That looks so freaking good! I could never make it just to have around the house, though, because my willpower is zero and I would eat way too much! I like bringing desserts to other peoples houses, so I can enjoy some and leave the leftovers there 🙂

Your brownies look amazing… What a cool idea for brownies… I am a member of a social networks site… recipebuddys.com and we recieved a post on Brownies and wanted to hear you opinions of it …I stumpled upon your post…and thought you would be a good sounding board.. we have a bake sale coming up…and want it to turn out good for our daughter… please advise…thanks

mmmm, you have the same very basic, very five star cheesecake recipe that I use: cream cheese, eggs, vanilla, and sugar. It is the foundation for what looks like an amazing variation on a luscious theme. I will be giving this a try! slurp!

I’m halfway thru this. The brownies are BOMB!!! I don’t even know if I’m a make it to the cheesecake. Good thing there’s plenty brownies left over. Where I am it’s hard to get a hold of unsweetened chocolate, I used their version of bittersweet ( taste that way anyway, 40% cocoa) from this store called Hofa, and used 1 cup sugar. BOMB!!!!

You will LOVE this cheesecake, and I definitely encourage you to make it! Unfortunately I don’t have a good answer for you as to why the brownies won’t sink to the bottom, but they don’t – I’ll call it baking magic 🙂

I made this for my birthday on Saturday. DELICIOUS. :] I used two nine-inch round cake pans instead of the springform pan and doubled the crust and the ganache (before I doubled the ganache it looked thin; that’s probably because my cake pans had basically the same diameter as the springform pan so I was trying to spread half of a ganache intended for a ten-inch pan into a nine-inch pan). Everyone who’s tried it loves it. YUM. :]

I haven’t commented here before but I have been loving this site for awhile now lol. I made this yesterday but changed some things. I made a completely different brownie recpie (an 8×8 with butter and cocoa powder- needed about 1/2 the pan, a little less actually), used an oreo crust (2 cups oreo crumbs, 5 tbs butter, scant 1/3 cup sugar), 9 in pan, and different ganache (4 oz 72 % dark chocolate with 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 tsp vanilla). BUT it was still the same cheesecake part and still the same idea. I was worried about the temp, 350 is higher than i have ever used for cheesecake and it did look too dark on the edges and raw in the middle, I turned it off and left it in there, which made it appear cracked, dark and overcooked. But after I put the topping on and chilled it for 4 hours it was SO GOOD. looked great, tasted better.

I made this amazing cheesecake for Easter dinner with my boyfriend’s family. Without question, it made them fantasize about my boyfriend and me getting married and the many more desserts I would make them once I was in the family haha. Thank you for this recipe!

Hey Michelle! made this 2 nights ago and tried it last night it was the very first “real” cheesecake i ever made and it turned out great…just very rich…and unfortunitly its just me so i gotta find some ppl to force to eat this with me cause ill cry if i have to throw any out 🙂 thanks for a great recipie to use!

I am making this for a small group gathering tomorrow and have the cheescake portion done and cooling. When I took it out of the oven, it was set around the edges but jiggly in the center like you said but the cheesecake pulled away from the crust along the top edges. Any ideas as to why this might have happened? I’m a novice cheesecake maker so I’m stumped! It still looks yummy and I’m hoping the ganache will hide the separation. I’m sure it will taste good anyhow!

Hi Sarah, Wow, I have never managed to get the crust the whole way to the top of the pan, so this has never happened to me. But, yes, the cheesecake will usually pull away from the pan when it is done.

Oh my goodness! SOOOO yummy! This was my first attempt at a cheesecake. When I first took it out of the oven I was very nervous because it was so “jiggly” but the next day it was perfection! I served it at a get together and everyone loved it and asked for the recipe. I did double the crust. Next time, I will not. The edge (the part where the side crust meets the bottom crust) came out really hard. Other than that it was the best cheesecake ever and easy to make. It was a bit time consuming, but easy!

This is an absolutely beautiful dessert! It looks yumptious. I would like to make it today, but need to know if a 9″ springform pan will work, since the recipe calls for a 10″ one. Looking forward to your reply.

I am going to make this today. First attempt ever at cheesecake. I made the brownies yesterday (first time making brownies from scratch!) I wanted to know if I am suppose to use just the cookie part of the oreo or do I crush entire cookie, filling and all? I can’t wait until I am stuffing my face with this.

ok I made it, but I don’t think I let it cook enough. took it out at said time, but now that it’s cooled, its just not thick and creamy. Seems the center needed to be cooked a bit longer…trial and error.

initially it was more like a custard. But after letting it set in the fridge over night, it seems to be more dense and think and creamy. I still feel like i didnt cook it enough, when i took it out of oven, after cooling a bit, it “fell” or sunk in. Is this normal?

oh. my. god. this was my first attempt at cheesecake and it turned out wonderfully. the brownies were chewy, the (double) crust was perfect and the cheesecake was creamy and decadent. my boyfriend is a cheesecake freak and he loved it! this is the third or fourth recipe of yours i’ve tried, and you’ve never let me down. thank you thank you thank you!!!

I made this for Valentine’s Day (we celebrated early). It was beautiful. The crust was GREAT! Overall, it was good. I think I like my cheesecakes creamier. (I am just picky about cheesecake.) The husband liked it, but likes some of the other cheesecakes I have made better. I do like the concept and beauty of the cake though. Next time, I will use a different brownie recipe and a different cheesecake recipe, but I will NOT change the crust. Thank you for the idea!

I made this a couple months ago and it was a huge hit! I accidently used the entire pan of brownies (which, admittedly, I do remember thinking was a lot. I probably should have re-read the recipe). It didn’t matter though! The cake was so amazing.

I made this for my dear friend’s 20th birthday party! It was delicious and definitely finished of to the last crumb! Making it again for a get-together tomorrow, and I and my family are prepared for the delicious leftovers haha!

Made this yesterday – we loved it – even my husband, who is not always a fan of too much chocolate. Very creamy, and double crust was definitely a good idea. Have you ever made it as individual (muffin-sized) servings?

They worked brilliantly! I made them as bite-sized mini cupcakes. I cut the brownies up very small and placed one in each cup before filling them up with the cheesecake mixture. I made 4 dozen minis and a small (4-inch) cheesecake and I had enough leftover brownies that I froze them for another time.

I have just made this cheesecake. Just had my first taste. Probably one of the best cheesecakes I have ever made. The oreo base is soooo good, crunchy but not as sweet as I thought it would be, so excellent. The recipe for the brownies was so simple. This is a really good recipe. Thanks so much.

I made this few days ago and it turned out SUPER 🙂 Very delicious unique combination:) Everyone totally loved it! 🙂 I doubled the oreo crust and had a very rich thick cheesecake, THANK YOU Michelle 🙂 for the next time, I want to make the oreo crust without any sugar, as some people said it’s too sweet for them :S Would it still be ok? I am afraid the crust will easily break once I cut the cheesecake and will end up having it in crumbs…Will appreciate your advise 🙂 <3

Just put this in the oven, so excited…but after 15 minutes, i smelt smoke, opened the oven and realised fat was dripping from the bottom of my springform pan, so I’ve had to take it out as I was worried the fat would catch fire. Will the cheesecake come out ok in the end if I put it in the oven again in a few hours? Just until I can clean the fat off the bottom of the oven. Will the eggs and cream cheese mixture will go funny if left in the tin sat on the kitchen top waiting to be cooked again?

Hi Michelle, I made this for the 2nd time and it was absolutely amazing! I was just wondering, since I doubled the oreo crust (and added 10 tablespoons of butter), would it work if I reduced the butter a little bit next time I make it? Would it make the crust less buttery? I’m having some friends over and wanna make this cheesecake again 🙂 Please let me know your suggestion, if I still double the crust, how many tablespoons of butter shall I add…? Thanks a lot for this one! I’m soo addicted to your spectacular recipes 🙂

What do you mean by ‘prepared pan’? Is that the pan which is actually the springform pan with the crust? And then once I’ve filled the springform pan you’re saying to place it in ANOTHER pan? To me it sounds like all you actually need to do is just fill the springform and put it in the oven, but clarification would be grand.

Hi Alex, So sorry for the confusion! There was a typo in that sentence; you should fill the prepared springform pan with the batter, then it is recommend to bake in either a larger pan or on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any drips. I hope this helps!

Absolutely in love with your blog – have tried some of your cakes but this is going to be the first cheesecake – very excited! Quick query – do you usually remove the bottom of the springform pan before serving? If so, how?

Great recipe! I used chocolate graham crackers for the crust instead of Oreos. This cheesecake had the perfect amount of sweetness, the Oreos might have been a little overwhelming for me. Ganache was perfect. I’ve tried so many recipes that were flops, I’m so happy that I gave this one a try. Will certainly make again!